In The Shadows: A Sequel to 'Regenerated Love'
by killian-me
Summary: A year has passed since the terrible Brad incident, and Calhoun is looking forward to living a happy life with her newfound love. But when strange occurrences begin happening in Hero's Duty, she begins to doubt that life will stay happy for much longer. (T for mild language.)
1. Chapter 1 - Shrouded in Shadow

**A/N: :-O I'm back with my _Regenerated Love_ sequel! I'll try to keep my posting times more consistent this time around, but I've begun working on an** **original** **project** **I've been ignoring as well, so I'm not so sure how that's gonna go. But I won't leave too much time between updates, promise! Hope you guys enjoy Chapter 1 and, as always, thanks for reading! Be looking for the next chapter soon! (Also, a note to new readers. I recommend that you read _Regenerated Love_ first if you haven't yet, but technically I guess you don't have to. I sort of go over the main events of what happened in the first chapter. Just a suggestion!)**

* * *

It had to have been at least a year since the Cy-Brad incident, as Calhoun had begun calling it in her head, but it still seemed so vivid to her. Felix had relaxed just a few months afterward and was trying to get her to do the same, but she wasn't so sure that things were as okay as they seemed. The two soldiers swore to her that they had properly disposed of Brad's corpse, incinerating it on the highest level of heat possible. But that didn't mean that he couldn't have respawned. He was, after all, part of the programming.

She'd had the game swept multiple times just to be sure, and each time there was no sign of him. Eyes had been kept on the respawn station since his body has burned and no one had seen anything aside from the occasional respawn of soldiers who had been taken out during game play. She began to wonder if she wasn't just being paranoid.

Felix had insisted that she begin living in his game with him, and after some coaxing and reassurance she'd obliged. Their relationship was as good as it could have been and she hoped that someday soon he would be proposing. But just as life began to feel a bit more normal odd things began occurring in Hero's Duty during the evening times, and her soldiers swore that they never saw a thing. They were aware of the vast amounts of missing supplies, such as food and spare civilian clothing, but no one could pinpoint where these items were disappearing to.

And so, much to Felix's dismay, Calhoun had insisted that she begin spending her nights in her own game until the thievery stopped. She hadn't the faintest idea of who could have been doing it. Her soldiers weren't fools, and she'd already interrogated each one of them personally. No one had cracked, which only further reassured her that none of them could possibly be behind it all.

So then her thoughts returned to Brad. If he had respawned he certainly wouldn't have wanted anyone to know about it. Though some part of her thought that if he did respawn, it would have been in his Cy-bug form. But that wasn't exactly a proven point, as no one had ever _actually_ been consumed by a Cy-bug, turned into one and killed in the history of the game.

She hated all this wondering. She was the type of woman who preferred to know exactly what was happening, and if she had doubts she'd find a way to prove herself right or wrong. But it was impossible to figure this one out and she was forced to wait.

Things had been quiet for the most part tonight. It was her third night staking out the equipment room with two of her soldiers at her side and so far they had yet to catch anyone even anywhere near the place without permission.

She was about to send them home when one of her soldiers grabbed her shoulder and pointed. She followed his finger to a shadowy figure stalking along the perimeter of the wall. It hurried into the building, the door slamming behind it. "Gotcha." She said with a grin. She grabbed her rifle and readied it, motioning for her men to follow her.

They approached the door cautiously and once she kicked it in the soldiers hiding inside flipped on the lights. They all swiveled their guns towards the bait supplies that had been laid out. The bait was gone, and so was the offender. "What the hell?" Calhoun swore, scanning the room for any signs of the intruder. Nothing. Whoever he was, he'd gone. "Who was he? Did anyone see him?"

All her soldiers shook their heads, and most of them looked dumbfounded. "We saw the door open Sarge, and we saw him come in, but after the door closed no one could keep their eyes on him. He moved almost too fast to be human."

She kicked a nearby box, releasing a stream of curse words that Felix would have blushed at hearing. That meant that it most definitely couldn't be Brad. He'd have respawned as either his human self or in his Cy-bug form. They must be dealing with someone from another game. "Alright, just forget it for tonight soldiers. We'll figure this out tomorrow."

She busted through the door of the building, running her fingers through her hair. If it was someone from another game then it made things much more difficult. There had to be at least fifty games plugged in at Litwak's; possibly more. It would take them a very long time to possibly track down any outsiders. They would have to catch him here, on their own turf.

But she forced herself to shrug it off, for now. Another failed attempt meant that she could at least return home to her love for the rest of the night. And right now, that was exactly what she needed. She grabbed her Hoverboard and hopped on. It cut about twenty minutes off her trip back to Felix's game and quite honestly she hated riding in that rickety little cart that gave entrance to it.

So once she entered the game she jumped off the board and powered it down, walking over to the house Felix had built for both himself and her to live in together. She pushed the front door open and smiled when she heard his voice ring out from the kitchen, "Tammy? Is that you?"

"Sure is Fix-It." She leaned the board against the wall beside the door and strode to the kitchen entrance. Felix was wiping his hands on a towel hanging on the wall, clearly having just finished washing the dishes for the night.

"Well jiminy jaminy, you're home early tonight!"

His cheeks were full of that 'honeyglow' he so often referred to as he hopped up to kiss her on the cheek. She grabbed him before he could get back to the ground, kissing him on the lips. She set him down and tried not to laugh at his dazed expression. It seemed that she could never kiss him without leaving him that way. "Well I've got nothing else to do there, for tonight at least. We almost had the creep; he was literally just a few feet away from me! But he got away."

Felix had pulled out a chair for her and pulled another chair next to it, hopping up and taking a seat. "I'm sorry honey. But if he was so close then surely you know who it is now!"

She shook her head and sighed. "Couldn't see him. He was shrouded in shadow. None of the soldiers in the building got eyes on him either. But, according to them, he moved much too fast to be anyone from Hero's Duty. So we're pretty sure now that we're looking for someone from an outside game."

Felix leaned back in his chair, frowning. "My lands, I wonder who might resort to stealing. It's been a while since any games were unplugged."

He seemed deep in thought, but she didn't want to pass her worries on to him. "Well it's done and over with for now, short stack. I don't want to think about it anymore." She leaned forward and nuzzled him. "I just want to spend the rest of the night with you."

That broke him from whatever he may have been thinking about and he looked up at her, grinning goofily. "Well then…" He hopped down from his chair, holding out a hand to her. "If you're ready, milady."

She smiled warmly and stood, taking his hand and allowing him to lead her up the stairs to their bedroom. They both changed into more comfortable clothes and climbed into bed together. It had been a few nights since she'd gotten to sleep cuddled up beside him, and for tonight she relished it. As he drifted off she pulled him close to her, hugging him tightly.

As of this moment, the problems of Hero's Duty were miles away from her mind. She only wanted to focus on this moment, and the happiness he made her feel. She deserved to take at least a few minutes for herself and she'd be damned if anyone would keep that from her.

* * *

He was sick of it. Stealing food and clothes from these idiot soldiers was easy, sure, but it was beneath him. He reassured himself that he would only have to do it for a while longer and tore into the meat in front of him. Soon enough, all would be exposed, and he would never have to resort to thievery and scrounging to get what he needed ever again.


	2. Authors Announcement

**Well following a disastrous crash my laptop is fully operational again! I've gone these last few months without it, and though I've still been working on this fic everything I have right now is hand-written. So if anyone is still interested in seeing where this story goes, I will be making regular updates on it again soon! Thanks to everyone for the patience! **


	3. Chapter 2 - What's Wrong With Felix?

**A/N: Sorry it took so long! I have had an incredibly long list of events happening in life that have, unfortunately, been hindering my time to write much more than I would like. Anyway, chapter two is finally here! Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

The quiet days that followed should have left Calhoun without concern, but something gnawed at her as time passed without any further incident. Why would this offender steal on a regular basis and then all of a sudden stop? She was sure that he must have found some other source of supplies. Her soldiers were tired of the constant worrying and waiting; she could tell. But she was positive that if they let their guard down this thief would return to make fools of them all.

She allowed herself to relax only in the presence of Felix. He could always tell when she was on edge about something and inevitably would try to transfer all worries from her shoulders to his own. She couldn't do that to him. Though he was more aware now of the dangers outside his own game he still remained endearingly oblivious to many things. And she wanted to keep him that way.

"Something wrong honey?"

She snapped out of her thoughts and smiled warmly at him. "Nothing at all, short stack. Just thinking about a few things I need to check out before game time tomorrow."

"You're still worried." His words hit her like ice. No one knew her like he did.

However, she allowed her facial expression to remain unchanging and shook her head. "Not about that. Just the game play. I had more than one soldier get out of line during game time yesterday and I'm really getting tired of it." She felt a bit bad, lying about her soldiers performance. They had actually been exemplary during game time recently. She needed some excuse though.

"I'm sorry to say that I don't fully believe you..." He chose his words carefully, studying her face as he said them. "But if you don't want to talk about it then I understand." He hopped down from where they were eating breakfast, gathering the empty dishes off the table as he did so. He walked over to the sink and hopped up on a stool, washing the dishes and placing them in the sink.

"Fix-It..." She stood and walked over, wrapping her arms around him from behind. "I love you."

He looked up at her with those big blue eyes and smiled, his cheeks flushed with honey-glow. "I love you too."

She hugged him and then glanced up at the clock. "It'll be opening time soon. We'd better get dressed."

* * *

"Alright soldiers, let's get into starting positions! A quarter alert could sound any minute!" She watched as her men slid easily into formation and couldn't help the bit of pride that surged through her at the sight of them. Guilt nipped at her heart again for lying about them, but some part of her felt that they would surely understand why she'd done it if they knew.

The quarter alert sounded and she tensed, preparing herself for a long day ahead. But as it turned out many of the gamers today were better than usual. It helped to improve her mood and, surprisingly enough, took her mind off her problems. Three gamers made it to the end and got awarded their medal.

She stood proudly alongside them as they received it and knew that hardly anything could ever compare to the way she felt when she saw the pride each child expressed upon winning the game. Perhaps the only thing that ever made her feel better than that was when she looked at Felix.

When the day was finally over she was left in a good enough mood that she gave most of her soldiers a break and let them horse around as she and a small squad did a final perimeter check for any stray Cy-bugs. Once she was sure that none remained she allowed her squad to join the remaining soldiers and eagerly left the game, leaving Kohut in charge just in case anything were to happen in her absence.

She crossed Game Central Station with her usual air of authority, causing the smaller and larger game characters alike to scurry out of her way when they saw her. If nearby characters watching didn't know any better they might think she was the bad guy of her game. This however didn't bother her in the slightest. Her mind was focused solely on getting home to Felix. She pulled out her Hoverboard and hopped on. Soon she was inside of the Fix-It Felix Jr. game and was making her way home. She was sure that her good mood absolutely couldn't be ruined until a familiar voice called out her name.

She turned to see Ralph walking over, looking deeply troubled. "Hey Wreck-It. What's going on?"

His expression assured her that whatever it was, it wasn't good. "It's Felix. Somethings real screwy with him today. He just wasn't playing the game right. Has he been acting normal with you?"

She frowned. "Yeah. He seemed fine this morning when I left. Where's he at?"

Ralph pointed with a large finger to a nearby hilltop, where a small silhouette of a figure could be made out. "He's been up there since the arcade closed. Won't say anything."

Her concern caused her to forget her usual harshness as she said, "Alright Wreck-It. Thanks."

She was about to make her way over to him when she heard a tiny voice cry out, "Sarge! It's been a while!" She turned to see Vanellope skipping over with her usual toothy grin plastered on her face.

"Sure has Pres." She glanced towards Felix, but decided that he could wait just a bit longer. She knelt and hugged Vanellope momentarily. "You haven't come around for that training just yet." Calhoun never regretted promising the young girl the chance to get some real training as a soldier. Of course the training wouldn't include handling dangerous weapons or anything of the sort. But she figured it'd be fun, especially for the soldiers, to have such an excitable little girl bouncing up and down the barracks trying to learn anything she could.

"Oh yeah." Vanellope kicked the ground sheepishly. "I kinda forgot. Being president is hard work! I hardly have time for anything anymore. Even seeing Ralph!" She jumped up to give Ralph a hug as she said this last part, which he gladly returned.

Calhoun hid a smile and found her gaze returning to the dark figure in the distance. "Don't worry about it kiddo. Just come around when you've got the free time."

Vanellope nodded vigorously and Calhoun promptly excused herself, beginning the short trek up the hill. As she neared him she stopped and stiffened a little. He looked completely different. His face, usually a bright sun of cheer, was dark with an oddly familiar sight of anger and disappointment. He hadn't noticed her yet, but when she began her stride again he looked up and the strange expression vanished. "Tammy! You're finally home!" He hopped over and jumped up, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"What's wrong Fix-It?" She asked, trying to keep her voice steady.

"Nothing's wrong sweetheart. I'm happy to see you!" No, something was definitely off. He was acting _too_ cheery, even for himself.

"Bullshit Felix. I can tell you're trying to hide something. What is it?"

"I'm not hiding anything honey. Everything is perfectly alright." He beamed at her and for the first time ever she found the expression creepy. "I've been waiting for you! Let's go back home!" He took her hand and began leading her down the hill. She followed, but her gut told her that something unquestionably wasn't right.

As they passed Ralph and Vanellope she gave Ralph a look that she hoped made it obvious that she knew something was wrong. He eyed Felix, who waved at him and Vanellope before continuing to pull his wife towards the house. Ralph returned her knowing look and she turned her attention back to her husband. Now, with Ralph as backup, she had a bit more confidence in finding out just what in the hell was wrong with Fix-It Felix Jr.


End file.
